Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle maintenance and repair.
2. Background Art
Currently, vehicles such as locomotives are inspected at the repair shop when the locomotive arrives for periodic scheduled maintenance. The in-shop inspection process is conducted as soon as possible upon arrival of the locomotive at the shop, because reduced shop time results in increased availability and usability of a locomotive. The in-shop inspection process typically takes several days to complete. The results of the inspection determine which, if any, systems must be corrected during the periodic scheduled maintenance and which fault correction and maintenance actions must be taken.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) currently requires an inspection every 92 days, and the locomotive is, of course, out of service during such periodic inspection and maintenance period.
Due to the high value of reducing overall shop time, any system or process to reduce such shop time would be very desirable.
The present invention provides a remotely operated inbound inspection system and method for reducing or eliminating in-shop inspection of vehicles, such as locomotives. The invention also provides a remotely operated system and method for reducing the shop time for vehicles, e.g., locomotives, during their periodic, scheduled inspections. The invention also provides a system and method for expediting the servicing of vehicles, e.g., locomotives, at a repair shop, by gathering system related data, sending the data to a remote maintenance facility, and evaluating potential problems and work elements at the remote maintenance facility, prior to arrival of the vehicle at the shop.
The novel features of this invention, as well as the invention itself, will be best understood from the attached drawings, taken along with the following description, in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts, and in which: